Sermon - The Importance of How We Live
Scripture - Proverbs 21: 21-24 “Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor. One who is wise can go up against the city of the mighty and pull down the stronghold in which they trust. Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity. The proud and arrogant person, “Mocker” is his name, behaves with insolent fury.”
Introduction: Where do we find righteousness? Righteousness is a gift that comes from the Lord to those who accept what Jesus has done for them by faith. Romans 5:17 reads that “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! The gift of salvation produces a changed heart that, in turn, changes our actions. Actions cannot change our hearts. It’s the heart of man that God looks upon. In 1Samuel 16:7, it says, “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at.” We must be righteous in our hearts to truly worship God. John 4:24 says, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
The mistake of thinking that doing right makes us right is the same error the Pharisees made. Religion has always preached that if we clean up our actions, our hearts will become clean too. Jesus taught just the opposite. Jesus gave a warning in Matthew 23:25-26, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. It’s through a changed heart that our actions change. The heart is the issue. Actions are only an indication of what is in our hearts. Actions are the fruit the heart produces.
Our world seems to be crying out for Justice, righteousness and goodness to all in a world that shows little appreciation for the poor, needy and underprivileged. The truth is that all of us are seeking full life, prosperity and honor. All of us desire life with freedom enough to become all that God has created us to be. All of us desire enough wealth to fulfil our God-given purpose without hurting ourselves or our neighbors. All of us desire to be honored, to know our self-worth and to be appreciated for our meaningful contribution to the world.
In Proverbs 21:21-24 Solomon tackles once again the importance of how we live. All of us are living a life that is on a path, either to righteousness and kindness, which is the path of wisdom and what God desires, or we take a path toward evil and are separated from God. God has a path for those who will listen and surrender to Him, and it is the path of life His way. “Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor.” The path of righteousness and kindness isn’t easy and is often opposed and mocked. Yet it is rewarded, and rewarded richly with life, righteousness and honor. The wise path is worth it. That is God’s way.
If believers have received God’s abundant provision of grace and His gift of righteousness is reigning our life, it will alter our actions towards others. Many so-called believers today, claim God’s provision of grace, but deny grace to others. They claim God’s righteousness in their speech, and for themselves, but deny God’s working in their conduct. They don’t believe that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. They don’t believe God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. They wave the flag and shout freedom themselves, while condemning all us are not like them. What is Solomon’s advice to us? Pursue righteousness. It must be pursued, fight for and work for in a world where is hard to come by.
1. Pursue Righteousness. Believers are put right with God through faith in Jesus Christ, now we must be righteous in our actions towards others. Solomon addresses the power of wisdom even when facing difficult challenges. The walls of a city are difficult obstacles to overcome, especially the city of the mighty. Yet with wisdom one can conquer such obstacles. The wise man can accomplish things impossible for others. “A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust.” Because the wise man enjoys the blessing and guidance of God, he can defeat obstacles as difficult as a city behind walls. This is the plight of many who suffer injustice, discrimination and abuse. What chance have empty handed protesters have against riot gear, tear gas and military weapons? What chance have hungry refugees have against missiles and bombs? Yet Solomon points us to victory by pursuing righteousness. This is the true path in military conflict and practical life. Wisdom and ingenuity have won many battles and destroyed many strongholds. Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr. found pursuing righteousness as the way to victory. Who would have ever thought that so much power could be found in non-violence. It is also true in spiritual life. Cities and strongholds that stand against the progress of the believer can be broken down with the wisdom and power of God. Solomon gives each of us a plan and points us to the path that pursues righteousness. Secondly, we must guard our tongue.
2. Guard Our Tongue. Our society affords many opportunities to say what we want, as loud and long as we want. It can be hurtful or helpful, or harmful. Our words can be unbridled, untrue and unwarranted. The tongue is so powerful, and power filled has been discussed many times by Solomon in his book of Proverbs in the Old Testament to the Epistle of James in the New Testament.
Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it shall eat the fruit of it.”
Jesus said in Matthew 12:37 that “For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”
James 3:5-6 “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.”
The tongue is a mighty and powerful thing, that needs to be managed and contained. What we say is important, which means we must be careful and intentional when using the instruments of speech – our mouth and tongue. It is good to guard what we say and not to speak everything that comes to mind. “Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.” Unguarded words can bring a lot of trouble. Having the wisdom to guard the mouth and tongue will keep us from conflict, damage and trouble.
Solomon returns to discuss the scoffer yet again. Of the many types of fools, the scoffer is one of the worst. He is known to be proud and haughty, thinking himself better than others and even better than God. “Scoffer is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride.” The proud and haughty man will be known by his actions. His life will be marked with great pride, arrogant pride. This is driven by an exaggerated opinion of oneself – believing that you are more important than you are – particularly in relationship to God and His almighty power. Scoffers are self-focused and excuse their own thinking which will lead them to disaster.
Believers must pray for the leaders. Good leadership is a channel of water controlled by God; he directs it to whatever ends he chooses. Believers must remember that we are all tempted to justify our actions by appearances; yet God examines our motives. Even though our world is filled lies, deception and evil, how we live is important to God. Clean living before God and justice with our neighbors mean far more to God than religious performance.
Proverbs 21, Solomon contrasts the lifestyle of a wise person with the foolish person, the righteous man with the wicked man, the lazy person with the diligent, and human wisdom with the Lord's sovereignty. His conclusion is that “He who follows righteousness and mercy. Finds life, righteousness, and honor. Each life, the fool and the wise man, the righteous and the wicked, the lazy and the diligent are on a path. Some choose God’s way, the path is righteousness and mercy. This is the path of wisdom, God's path for those who will listen and surrender to Him. What does it mean to pursue these things? To chase righteousness …is to love truth, to rejoice when good wins out, and to intervene when something unjust happens. It’s to desire that what is right will prevail. It echoes the justice of God. It means to pursue love. It means to treat others even better than you’d like to be treated. It sometimes means choosing to pardon someone who’s hurt you. It’s forgiving someone even when it’s difficult. Love involves tenderness and sacrifice. It echoes the heart of God. Finally, it means pursuing prosperity and honor. Prosperity of soul comes when we marry truth and love, unafraid to share what is right, but with a humble attitude. Paul reminds us, “Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). Our prayer should be, “Lord, I want a heart that searches out injustices, stands up for the truth, and loves those who are made in your image regardless of their nationality, race and background. Give me the strength to pursue righteousness and love, find life, prosperity and honor. Stand for the weak, go up against and pull down the stronghold of the mighty and guard my mouth and my tongue so you can keep me from calamity. Amen.
